Pretty much from the roasted malts. Depending on the hop vs malt balance, black ales (I prefer black ipa) can fall anywhere from tasting like a pure ipa to tasting like a porter. Swamp Head's Darkwater is one of my favorites. Stone's Sublimely Self Righteous is incredible and widely distributed if you'd like a try.

Pretty much from the roasted malts. Depending on the hop vs malt balance, black ales (I prefer black ipa) can fall anywhere from tasting like a pure ipa to tasting like a porter. Swamp Head's Darkwater is one of my favorites. Stone's Sublimely Self Righteous is incredible and widely distributed if you'd like a try.

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I think this one leans more towards porter, but it isn't as rich and does have some IPA characteristics. The Cedar from the humidor adds an interesting touch. Its quite unlike any beer I've had, but enjoyable to me. My brother didn't care for it as much, but he's more of a devout IPA guy while I mix it up a bit more.

Had three or four bottles of New Belgium's Belgo, a Belgian IPA. Not impressed. Only reason I drank so many is that I drank too much coffee late this afternoon. Love the idea of Belgian IPAs, but this is not a good execution.

Ran into the beer and wine manager at Whole Foods yesterday and he told me about some of the stuff coming in. He had a couple of cases of Boulevard Rye on Rye on his cart. This batch was aged in Templeton Rye barrels. The bombers go for about $12 or $13. He hadn't put them on the shelf yet, so I couldn't buy any on the spot. He said to come back tomorrow when he'll also have Bell's Hopslam, possibly the best Imperial IPAs not named Pliny the Younger or Pliny the Elder. Said he expected it to be $18 for a six pack. Kind of rich for my blood, but also rare. I'll probably jump on the Hopslam and wait until payday (my wife's, not mine) to buy the Rye on Rye.

Picked up the Rye on Rye. Hopslam still hasn't arrived. They expect it tomorrow. Saving the Rye on Rye for the weekend, if not later. Going to cellar the Hop Slam for several weeks, then drink them one at a time.

Working on a new beer drinking routine. Been drinking a bit too much lately, so I've decided to stop drinking on weeknights, which is hard. My strategy is to buy one or two really special, possibly cellarable beers a week and save them for the weekend. Hope to slip a couple into the cellar too, then drink them months later. The incentive to drink better beer will probably be enough to help me abstain on weeknights.

I just received a big box of founders stuff. Backwoods Bastard, Devil Dancer, Double Trouble, Reds Rye PA, Breakfast Stout and Imperial Stout. 4 of each plus 8 of the BB's! I'll enjoy drinking these over the next week or so. The highlight may be the one Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Stout thrown in. Yum!

I just received a big box of founders stuff. Backwoods Bastard, Devil Dancer, Double Trouble, Reds Rye PA, Breakfast Stout and Imperial Stout. 4 of each plus 8 of the BB's! I'll enjoy drinking these over the next week or so. The highlight may be the one Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Stout thrown in. Yum!

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The Backwoods Bastard and Devil Dancer are very hard to get your hands on. I would usually advise aging the Devil Dancer, but the batch you have has been aging since June when it was last released. Backwoods Bastard came out more recently, some time in the fall. Not sure if it needs aging since it's not heavy on hops. Reds Rye PA is good. We get that all year round. The Breakfast Stout and Imperial Stouts are among the best in the country. Bourbon Country Stout is probably the very best, though I'm not much of a stout drinker.

One other piece of advice about the Devil Dancer I would impart is to work up to it. DD is somewhere in the 12% to 14% ABV range and 100 IBUs. You'll enjoy it more if you have one or two milder IPAs first. I'd go with the Double Trouble.

The Backwoods Bastard and Devil Dancer are very hard to get your hands on. I would usually advise aging the Devil Dancer, but the batch you have has been aging since June when it was last released. Backwoods Bastard came out more recently, some time in the fall. Not sure if it needs aging since it's not heavy on hops. Reds Rye PA is good. We get that all year round. The Breakfast Stout and Imperial Stouts are among the best in the country. Bourbon Country Stout is probably the very best, though I'm not much of a stout drinker.

One other piece of advice about the Devil Dancer I would impart is to work up to it. DD is somewhere in the 12% to 14% ABV range and 100 IBUs. You'll enjoy it more if you have one or two milder IPAs first. I'd go with the Double Trouble.

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Yes, the BB is all dated late October. The Dancer is from June, but I'm not complaining. Obviously would prefer fresh, but it was basically a throw in so I'll take it.

Strange, I take it you're not a big fan of wet hop or fresh IPA's? Sounds like you're more of a barleywine fan.

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No. Big IPAs are my fave. Had a few good wet hop DIPAs lately. Like them a lot. Starting to narrow in on specific hop varieties, especially Citra. I like what Three Floyds does with their IPAs, focusing on just one or two varieties.

Headed to Whole Foods this afternoon to get my Hopslam.

I do like barleywines, but good ones are hard to find and usually expensive.